The Guardian has proposed six changes to protect British consumers
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced his intention to ban fake discounts and make it easier to cancel unwanted subscriptions. Against this backdrop, The Guardian published six additional proposals that, according to the publication, could reduce everyday expenses and inconveniences for consumers.
In particular, the newspaper proposes banning additional fees when purchasing tickets for concerts and performances. Consumer protection rules introduced last year made such fees more transparent but did not eliminate them, The Guardian notes.
Another proposal concerns energy payments via direct debit. The publication believes that suppliers could be prohibited from increasing such payments beyond price changes or when a customer has already built up a reserve of funds. According to the energy regulator Ofgem, in the year leading up to March, suppliers held £3.2 billion of consumers’ funds, and the average household credit balance was £135.
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The Guardian also proposes clearer labeling for products whose volume or weight manufacturers have reduced without a corresponding price reduction. The publication cites regulations in France and Austria designed to make such changes more noticeable to shoppers.
Other ideas include requiring companies to display a phone number on their website’s homepage, accelerating the introduction and enforcement of a code of practice for parking lots, and requiring insurers to immediately offer customers the best available terms. The publication notes that the current insurance system may continue to force consumers to call insurers, compare offers, or threaten to cancel their policies in order to lower the price.
